stolen climate scientist emailshttp://www.desmogblog.com/taxonomy/term/7789/all
enDid UK Police Quietly Sideline ‘Climategate’ Hacker Investigation?http://www.desmogblog.com/did-uk-police-quietly-sideline-climategate-hacker-investigation
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/shutterstock_73030483.jpg?itok=m4wbqfMg" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The <span class="caps">UK</span> police force tasked with investigating the hacking of emails and documents from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (the debunked “Climategate”) seems to have quietly de-prioritized its investigation earlier this year, according to documents released under the <span class="caps">UK</span> Freedom of Information Act (<span class="caps">FOIA</span>).</p>
<p>The Norfolk Constabulary police force’s responses to <span class="caps">FOIA</span> requests indicate that the amount spent on attempts to identify the hacker in the last year was just £5,649.09 - with all but £80.05 spent on invoices for work carried out previously by private companies, suggesting police work on the investigation has ground to a halt.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, the hackers (ironically calling themselves “<span class="caps">FOIA</span>”) illegally released a second set of hacked material consisting of 5,349 emails and 23 documents from <span class="caps">UEA</span>. The university and independent reviews suggest these are leftovers from the initial November 2009 theft – in the words of one climate scientist, “<a href="http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2011/11/two-year-old-turkey/comment-page-4/">two-year old turkey</a>.” </p>
<p>While nine independent inquiries have cleared the scientists of any wrongdoing in the wake of the baseless ‘Climategate’ episode, the person (or persons) responsible for the hacking has gotten off scot-free to date. The <span class="caps">FOIA</span> documents seem to indicate that the police investigation was derailed and perhaps dropped earlier this year.</p>
<p><strong>The grand total spent by Norfolk police on the <span class="caps">UEA</span> hacker investigation since the November 2009 theft is just <a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=77ef69c0-3e39-440b-a66b-ad93554464ea&amp;version=1">£80,905.11</a></strong>.</p>
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<p><img alt="" src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Norfolk Police Expenditures Climategate.png" /></p>
<p>To illustrate the vast gap between this figure and the expenditures reported publicly about other <span class="caps">UK</span> police investigations, see the infographic below.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/UK-Govt-Expenses-on-ClimateGate.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " /></p>
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<p>Norfolk Constabulary invoked an exemption under the <span class="caps">FOIA</span> rules to refuse to confirm or deny whether other <span class="caps">UK</span> security services such as <span class="caps">MI</span>5 or <span class="caps">MI</span>6 have worked on the investigation. A statement from Norfolk police did confirm it is receiving “ongoing assistance” from the <span class="caps">UK</span>’s domestic terrorism agency, the <a href="http://www.netcu.co.uk/de/default.jsp">National Domestic Extremism Coordination Unit</a>, and that it was helped early in the investigation by London's Metropolitan Police. But the current status of their involvement – and how high a priority this investigation is for these agencies – is unclear.</p>
<p>While the Guardian reports that police say the latest leak could produce more leads and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/23/climate-scientists-hacked-emails-uea">claim their investigation is ongoing</a>, the <span class="caps">FOIA</span> documents show that the last time any money was actually spent on this case was in February 2011, when the £80.05 in “officer expenses” were filed. </p>
<p>In response to the publication of the tiny £5,649.09 annual expenditure, a Norfolk police spokeswoman told the Guardian it is “relevant to note that the figures relate only to additional expenditure and do not include officer and staff time on the investigation, which is not routinely recorded.”</p>
<p>It is entirely plausible that British security agencies have spent millions and are poised to make an arrest. But the budget certainly indicates that it hasn’t been a high priority for the Norfolk police force.</p>
<p>If there is a serious investigation underway, surely the officers would incur more expenses than the cost of a few boxes of paper and doughnuts?</p>
<p>One <a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=0b75029b-2857-4bec-a70a-12bb346267a8&amp;version=2"><span class="caps">FOIA</span> response from the Norfolk Constabulary in September 2011</a> was particularly troubling, and it doesn’t exactly square with the police force’s statement to the Guardian this week:</p>
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<p><strong>“There are currently no police officers or police staff, within Norfolk Constabulary, working full time on the investigation into the acquisition of data from the computers at the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit.</strong> The Senior Investigating Officer (<span class="caps">SIO</span>) and the Deputy/<span class="caps">SIO</span> retain responsibility and resources are allocated if and when necessary.”</p>
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<p>There is a vital public interest in confirming that the <span class="caps">UEA</span> emails were criminally hacked and in turn, identifying those responsible and their connections.</p>
<p>Among many reasons for continued police diligence, climate scientist Phil Jones said he contemplated suicide after the initial email theft in 2009. So it is important for investigators to get to the bottom of this crime in order to mete out at least some justice for this baseless attempt at character assassination of climate scientists.</p>
<p>The ongoing harassment of climate scientists – including death threats in several cases – cannot be ignored by law enforcement agencies. If police were able to confirm the identity of the <span class="caps">UEA</span> hackers and bring them to justice swiftly, it would hopefully have a chilling effect on the vicious smear campaign against climate scientists.</p>
<p>If in fact there is a robust police investigation ongoing, then the public needs to have confirmation about that. Investigators can provide some indications of their progress without compromising the investigation, and they owe at least that courtesy to the public.</p>
<p>As it stands now, these <span class="caps">FOIA</span> results showing very little expenditure on the investigation indicate that the Norfolk police effort is completely inadequate.</p>
<p>If the investigation was sidelined for much of 2011, as the <span class="caps">FOIA</span> documents indicate, then a formal review must commence immediately to determine the reasons for that lapse in judgment.</p>
<p>British officials should also seriously consider the suggestion from Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Edward Markey that the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> intelligence community should assist in the investigation.</p>
<p><a href="http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=content&amp;task=view&amp;id=4611&amp;Itemid=125">Markey explained the significance of this investigation in a statement</a>:</p>
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<p>“This is clearly an attempt to sabotage the international climate talks for a second time, and there has not been enough attention paid to who is responsible for these illegal acts. If this happened surrounding nuclear arms talks, we would have the full force of the western world's intelligence community pursuing the perpetrators. And yet, with the stability of our climate hanging in the balance with these international climate treaty negotiations, these hackers and their supporters are still on the loose. It is time to bring them to justice.”</p>
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<p>Whatever the reason for the low <span class="caps">UK</span> police expenditures, it is clearly time for a more coordinated international investigation into this crime. </p>
<p>View the <span class="caps">FOIA</span> documents: [<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=77ef69c0-3e39-440b-a66b-ad93554464ea&amp;version=1">1</a>]<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=6a4060bb-3df6-453c-9a11-c335fba1dcf2&amp;version=1">[2</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=3d474d95-31e5-4d0c-a6e7-3e9dbc7f8a7e&amp;version=1">3</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=c3c1c9cf-38d6-4207-ac72-bcf443696036&amp;version=1">4</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=2c605c18-7a44-44e8-b412-a476796b404d&amp;version=1">5</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=26282292-3463-4030-95ca-7469f176f4af&amp;version=1">6</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=0b75029b-2857-4bec-a70a-12bb346267a8&amp;version=2">7</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=274a886d-6b34-458b-9857-0c55d3b6609b&amp;version=1">8</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=a87d1c10-53e9-4afe-9291-41acd099a1eb&amp;version=1">9</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=8ebc7cb8-298d-4c81-a86d-66d4752dc382&amp;version=1">10</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=754fa750-b6a1-4219-9205-29b66ee1011b&amp;version=1">11</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=96aebbf2-64d7-4288-8a0d-1a7cd81e7c49&amp;version=1">12</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=46a7ce03-9c41-42cf-b47a-fe90d46a0750&amp;version=1">13</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=6fed6cf4-0140-49be-81a9-995b474759db&amp;version=1">14</a>][<a href="http://www.norfolk.police.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=2075b18b-0df8-4259-a491-7b2b43bf094d&amp;version=1">15</a>]</p>
<p><em>Image credit: <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-292328p1.html">Richard Peterson</a>/<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a></em></p>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2176">foia</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4624">Climategate</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4652">East Anglia</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4663">Phil Jones</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4929">Climatic Research Unit (CRU)</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7789">stolen climate scientist emails</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7790">uk police</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7791">Norfolk Police climategate</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7792">norfolk constabulary</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7793">hacking</a></div></div></div>Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:23:42 +0000Brendan DeMelle5865 at http://www.desmogblog.comReal 'Climategate' Scandal: UK Police Spent Measly $8,843 In Failed Attempt to Identify Criminal Hackerhttp://www.desmogblog.com/real-climategate-scandal-uk-police-spent-measly-8-843-failed-attempt-identify-criminal-hacker
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/shutterstock_6710920.jpg?itok=U44tPi-T" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Richard Black at the <span class="caps" style="line-height: 13px; font-size: 0.9em; "><span class="caps">BBC</span></span> points to the real 'Climategate' scandal that needs further investigation - why the <span class="caps" style="line-height: 13px; font-size: 0.9em; "><span class="caps">UK</span></span> police have done such an astonishly poor job investigating this criminal hacking, as evidenced by their tiny expenditures to date this year. From <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15846886" style="line-height: 13px; " target="_blank">Climate Emails, Storm or Yawn?</a>: </p>
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I have it from a very good source that it absolutely was a hack, not a leak by a “concerned” <span class="caps">UEA</span> scientist, as has been claimed in some circles.</div>
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The Norfolk Police clearly see it as a criminal act too, a spokesman telling me that “the contents [of the new release] will be of interest to our investigation which is ongoing”.</div>
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Groups like <span class="caps">UCS</span> are, however, beginning to ask where that investigation has got to.</div>
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I have been passed information stemming from an FoI request to <strong>Norfolk Police showing that over the past 12 months, they have spent precisely £5,649.09 [<span class="caps" style="font-size: 0.9em; "><span class="caps">US</span></span>$8,843.64] on the investigation</strong>.</div>
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All of that was disbursed back in February; and all but £80.05 went on “invoices for work in the last six months”.</div>
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<strong>Of all the figures surrounding the current story, that is perhaps the one that most merits further interrogation</strong>.</div>
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<p>Stay tuned for more information when Black writes further about his (real) investigation into the incompetent police effort to identify the thieves behind the East Anglia <span class="caps">CRU</span> hack.</p>
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<p>Image credit: <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-5024p1.html">Patrick Hermans</a> / <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/">Shutterstock</a></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/bbc">BBC</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2407">richard black</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4624">Climategate</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4652">East Anglia</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4929">Climatic Research Unit (CRU)</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7789">stolen climate scientist emails</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7790">uk police</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7791">Norfolk Police climategate</a></div></div></div>Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:38:46 +0000Brendan DeMelle5864 at http://www.desmogblog.com